


Hold Still

by Stumbling-While-Balancing (Rellanka)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, But neither Shiro or Keith die, Fill for Sheith Month, Haircuts, Happy Ending, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, Season 3 Spoilers, happiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-12-12 04:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11729385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rellanka/pseuds/Stumbling-While-Balancing
Summary: Spoilers for Season 3Sometimes a person's hair really does hide secrets.





	Hold Still

**Author's Note:**

> Keith is 18 and near the end of his training at the Garrison during the first scene of this story.

“Hold still.” Keith said, snipping the scissors warningly once they were away from Shiro’s head.

Shiro jumped slightly at the sound, before laughing softly and relaxing once more into the seat. He didn’t think that he could be blamed for leaning into the warmth of Keith’s hands as they ran through his hair, not when those hands felt so nice. But he did understand how that could make things difficult for Keith, considering.

“Have you even done this before?” He asked teasingly, suppressing the urge to turn and throw a glance at the man standing behind him.

Shiro could just about hear the eye roll that was present in Keith’s voice as he responded, “I’ve always cut my own hair.” before giving Shiro a gentle slap to the back of his head at Shiro’s following dramatized gasp of horror.

“Maybe I should rethink this. I’ve gotta look good tomorrow, after all.” Shiro said, teasing again as Keith continued cutting away. He wasn’t being serious; while doubtlessly there would be photos taken tomorrow before the take off for the Kerberos mission, he didn’t really care how the world saw him. There was only one person he ever wanted to impress, and that person would be responsible for how his hair turned out and so would only have themselves to blame if it looked terrible. 

Not to mention that any excuse to spend time with Keith was a good one.

“Mmmm.” Keith said noncommittally, quiet as he always got over Shiro leaving for the mission, which would see him gone for months. 

Shiro cursed himself for a moment for bringing it up and ruining the previously happy air between them. He stood once Keith had pulled the scissors away enough that he wouldn’t be accidentally stabbed, drawing Keith gently into his arms. 

“Hey, you’re gonna be really busy finishing your training and impressing the hell out of your instructors while I’m gone.” He murmured into Keith’s hair, “By the time I get back you’ll be an officer, and you’re kidding if you think I’m not going to insist that we get placed together in a team. I’ve got to have the best in the air with me, after all. Soon enough we’ll be going on these missions together, ok?”

Keith had stiffened at first, but after Shiro’s speech he relaxed back into his arms, releasing a shuddering sigh and melting into him.

“I’ll come back before you know it.” Shiro continued, brushing a kiss into Keith’s hair, “I’ll always come back to you, Keith. Always.”

***

Keith paused before Shiro’s door to gather his resolve. Shiro had been… strange since the Black Lion had located him and Keith had pulled his beaten, malnourished form from his stolen craft. There was a new distance, a new coolness where there had been none before. Shiro’s response to Keith yanking him into an embrace after the healing pod had released him and sobbing desperately into his shoulder had been strangely robotic. It was as though he no longer knew how to react to Keith touching him.

He had stiffened, when that had never been his first response to Keith, before relaxing almost hesitantly into the embrace. It truly was as if he had never received a hug before, as if this was some strange new territory that he had to get used to. Considering that he and Keith had done much more than hugging in the past, the behavior was just plain confusing. And that behavior continued; Shiro being oddly stilted and uncertain with Keith, even though he sometimes leaned into Keith’s touch like a flower seeking the sun. 

Keith wanted to chalk it up to whatever the Galra had put Shiro through, and he cursed the fact that Shiro had once again been forced to suffer under the Galra’s hands. But it seemed like more than that, as if there was something that Keith wasn’t quite grasping. 

Keith just wished he knew what it was he wasn’t grasping. 

The door opening interrupted his musings, and he was bringing up the items in his arms almost defensively to show he had a reason for being there when he caught sight of Shiro.

When he caught sight of Shiro’s hair.

“Oh.” He said dumbly, staring at Shiro and his close-cropped hair, “You’ve already- I thought I was going to cut your hair.” Keith had been cutting Shiro’s hair ever since he came back from the cursed Kerberos mission. It had been something that had carried more weight than the act usually called for with others- Shiro trusting Keith with the scissors completely even though sharp objects being wielded that close to him now otherwise made him wary, and Keith being grateful that Shiro had kept his promise to come back to him with each snip he made. 

But Shiro’s hair was already cut, shorn shorter than Keith himself had ever made it. The white tuft in the front was cut oddly, as though Shiro had just grabbed the entirety of it and cut it down, without making any attempt to even it out. The rest just looked like Shiro had hacked it down as short as possible without making it a buzz cut and then been satisfied.

Overall, it looked a mess, and Keith was knocked further off balance by how it changed Shiro’s features. 

Or was it the hair that really made Shiro look different?

Shiro himself was smiling sheepishly as he ran a hand over his head, “Thought I’d save you the trouble.” He said, not quite meeting Keith’s eyes, “After all, I can’t always expect you to do everything for me, right?”

Keith frowned, expression scrunching up with how much he disagreed with that statement, already countering with, “It’s no troub-“

But Shiro was already cutting him off, saying “I’ll see you on the main deck with the team in a few minutes, ok? I just have a few things to do before then.” as he turned and walked down the hallway.

Keith was left standing in front of Shiro’s door, staring after him silently as questions swirled through his head.

A growing suspicion that he desperately wanted to not be true was the only thing that stopped him from calling after Shiro. From asking him to hold still for Keith- even if just for a moment.

***

“Hold still!” Keith snapped, rage and grief and overwhelming sorrow battling within him as he drew his sword from the clone’s-the robot’s- the false Shiro’s chest. 

The clone’s laugh was odd as though he was choking on blood or glitching or both as he collapsed onto the dirt. He was made up of an odd combination of flesh and machinery, enough genuine skin, tissue and organs to fool people and machine alike into thinking him human, but with machinery running alongside and sometimes overtaking the functions of organic flesh. His heart was apparently machine enough that it was still trying to function even though, morbidly, Keith could see sparks flash beneath the skin. 

“I don’t think I’m going anywhere.” The false Shiro managed from where he had landed in the dirt, eyes half shut as he gave Keith a bloody, humorless smile. 

Keith gritted his teeth and knelt beside him, clenching his fists to avoid reaching out. To avoid the urge to soothe the hurts that he himself had caused. “You’re the reason that Lotor knows so much about us, aren’t you?” He continued before the false Shiro could even answer (because that one was obvious enough it needed no answer), “You tried to kill the rest of the team. Why didn’t you try to kill me?”

“I did try to kill you.” The false Shiro, Kuro, said half-wistfully, the same expression and tone on his face as when the real Shiro was lying and wasn’t really trying to hide it.

“No.” Keith said, absolutely certain of this now, “You attacked me just to get me to attack you. You weren’t even really trying to fight me; you were just trying to appear like you were.”

And while betrayal had kept Keith from realizing it at the time, he realized the truth of that now, reviewing the fight in his head and seeing all of the obvious openings that Kuro had left for him. Openings that Keith had almost entirely missed because even with all that Kuro done, Keith’s entire being did not want to harm someone who looked so like Shiro. Kuro had made multiple attempts at taking out the others, but never had actually tried to seriously harm Keith. Not even now. 

At Keith’s accusation, Kuro turned his head to smile blankly up at the sky before saying softly, “He’s so lucky, you know? The other me. He’s so lucky to have you. I guess I just couldn’t harm someone that could love as deeply as you love him.” Kuro scoffed slightly to himself as he closed his eyes, “Or maybe it’s that I’m enough like him that I’m incapable of harming someone I’ve fallen in love with. Maybe it’s that I was stupid, and foolish, and insane enough to think that perhaps one day you could learn to love me, too.” 

Keith was frozen where he knelt, eyes wide and fixed on Kuro, completely speechless as the clone continued, meeting Keith’s eyes with his own even as the light behind those eyes started growing dim. An odd clinking, sliding sound came as Kuro said, “There’s an opening in the back of my skull that the Galra used to work on my brain directly. It’s why I couldn’t risk you cutting my hair; you might have seen the lines of it. It’s open now. Get the chip that’s a little left of center. It has data that you’re going to need to fight Lotor. And find the other me.”

Keith swallowed harshly at Kuro’s words, at the fact that Kuro was helping him even though- even though Keith had effectively killed him. Keith’s chest was tight as a horrible realization came upon him, the true reason for how much pain he was in now. Finally, Keith reached out to place his hand against Kuro’s cheek. The clone leaned into his touch, as it always had- full of yearning and almost as if Kuro knew he shouldn’t. “I did love you.” Keith confessed softly, to himself and to Kuro, “I knew something was wrong, but I loved you regardless. I couldn’t not; you have too much Shiro inside of you for me to do anything other than fall completely head over heels for you.” 

Kuro smiled at him as if Keith- as if Keith were a blessing that he had never expected to receive. As if Keith were the sun and the moon and all the stars in the sky. Kuron smiled at Keith like Keith was **everything** before saying, “Thank you.” as the light faded completely from his eyes. 

It was a long time before Keith could bring himself to move again.

***

They had done it. The battle near the end had been insane, more than once Keith had thought it hopeless and that Lotor would win, but somehow team Voltron and their allies had made it through; they had won- and even though there had been losses, there had been gains, as well. 

His eyes caught on the figure standing a little off to the side as he exited his lion. Keith’s own gain, the **best** gain, the only gain that was vital to Keith's existence. He **ran** , and didn’t even let Shiro greet him before he was pressing himself into Shiro's arms, wrapping his own around Shiro in a fierce embrace. Shiro clutched him back just as tightly, strong arms wrapping around Keith’s waist and bringing him so close that their armor was the only thing keeping them apart. 

“You need to get to a healing pod.” Shiro managed after a little while, his arms finally starting to loosen as he began to pull away- presumably to direct Keith into such a pod.

But Keith refused to let go yet, and only clutched Shiro tighter. 

“Hold still. Just for now- just for a little while longer. Hold still.”

And Shiro did.

**End.**

**Author's Note:**

> Again, written fairly quickly, so please let me know if there are any problems with grammer or flow.


End file.
